Jona Lewie (born John Lewis, 14 March 1947) is an English singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his 1980 UK hits " You'll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties" and " Stop the Cavalry".

Career

Lewie was born on 14 March 1947 in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. Jona Lewie joined his first group, the Johnston City Jazz Band, while still at school in 1963, and by 1968 had become a

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and

boogie Boogie is a repetitive, swung note or shuffle rhythm,Burrows, Terry (1995). ''Play Country Guitar'', p.42. Dorling Kindersley Limited, London. . "groove" or pattern used in blues which was originally played on the piano in boogie-woogie mus ...

singer and piano player. In 1969, as a singer/songwriter, he contributed compositions and recordings for the compilation album ''I Asked for Water She Gave Me... Gasoline'' on the

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

/ UA label. Other compositions in 1969 were for the album ''These Blues Is Meant to Be Barrel Housed'' on the Yazoo/ Blue Goose label in New York, still as a solo artist known as John Lewis. In 1969, he became acquainted with the blues band Brett Marvin and the Thunderbolts, which was holding a residency at London's Studio 51 club, joining as a vocalist and piano player. Brett Marvin signed to the

Robert Stigwood Organisation RSO Records was a record label formed by rock and roll and musical theatre impresario Robert Stigwood and record executive Al Coury in 1973. The letters "RSO" stood for the Robert Stigwood Organisation. RSO managed the careers of several ma ...

agency in 1970, and Jona Lewie, as part of the band, appeared on television in Sweden, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands, and in 1971 performed in a concert with

Son House Edward James "Son" House Jr. (March 21, 1902His date of birth is a matter of some debate. House alleged that he was middle-aged during World War I and that he was 79 in 1965, which would make his date of birth around 1886. However, all legal re ...

and supported

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

Derek and the Dominos Derek and the Dominos was an English–American blues rock band formed in the spring of 1970 by guitarist and singer Eric Clapton, keyboardist and singer Bobby Whitlock, bassist Carl Radle and drummer Jim Gordon. All four members had previou ...

on a UK tour. Lewie stayed with Brett Marvin until 1973, its mainstream hit single being " Seaside Shuffle", another Lewie composition, released under the moniker

Terry Dactyl and the Dinosaurs Terry Dactyl and the Dinosaurs were an English novelty band that issued a few recordings in the early 1970s. The band was an alias adopted by Brett Marvin and the Thunderbolts but signed to a different record label. Terry Dactyl and the Dinos ...

. The record did little on first release in 1971, but in 1972 a re-release reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart. A subsequent Lewie-composed Terry Dactyl track "On a Saturday Night" reached 42 in the UK chart in 1973, and a cover version was a hit in Spain. "She Left, I Died" was the third and last Lewie composition he recorded for the Terry Dactyl catalogue in May 1973, just before leaving the band. After the demise of Terry Dactyl, Lewie had initially looked likely to remain a part of a one-hit wonder group. However, he continued to write and make records, now as a solo artist for Sonet, between 1974 and 1976 including the titles "Piggy Back Sue" and "The Swan", which were both played by

BBC Radio London BBC Radio London is the Local BBC Radio, BBC's local radio station serving Greater London and its surrounding areas. The station broadcasts across the area and beyond, on the 94.9 FM broadcasting, FM frequency, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, ...

disc jockey

Charlie Gillett Charles Thomas Gillett (; 20 February 1942 – 17 March 2010) was a British radio presenter, musicologist, and writer, mainly on rock and roll and other forms of popular music. He was particularly noted for his influential book ''The Sound of t ...

, who would regularly feature them on his ''Honky Tonk'' radio show. At this time, he also helped form the short-lived band the Jive Bombers that played the established London gig circuit at such venues as

The Hope and Anchor, Islington Hope and Anchor is a pub on Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington which first opened its doors in 1880. During the mid-1970s it was one of the first pubs to embrace the emergent, but brief, phenomenon of pub rock. With the decline of ...

, the Greyhound, the

100 Club The 100 Club is a music venue located at 100 Oxford Street, London, England, where it has been hosting live music since 24 October 1942. It was originally called the Feldman Swing Club, but changed its name when the father of the current owner ...

and the

Marquee Club The Marquee Club was a music venue first located at 165 Oxford Street in London, when it opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts. Its most famous period was from 1964 to 1988 at 90 Wardour Street in Soho, and it finally closed whe ...

. The band stayed together for six months and was not able to realise any potential recording career, despite Ted Caroll's offer of a record deal on his own label

Chiswick Records Chiswick Records was a British independent record label. Established in 1975, Chiswick was the "first true ' indie' label to be established in Britain for nearly a decade". The label has been described as "significant" in the " punk era". It re ...

. The band members included Iain "Thumper" Thompson, who went on to help form the successful chart act

Darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, missiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dar ...

, the guitarist Martin Stone and drummer

Wilgar Campbell Wilgar William Campbell (1946 – October 1989) was an Irish blues rock musician, best known for his role as drummer with Rory Gallagher in the early 1970s. Career Early career Campbell played with Belfast band The Method, who moved to London in ...

. This period, however, did culminate in some further recordings that achieved chart activity for Lewie in Europe as a solo recording artist, with two of his Sonet singles "Cherry Ring" and "Come Away (Bate O Pe)", leading to solo TV appearances in central and northern Europe. Despite Lewie's continuing development as a songwriter and recording artist, he did not forget his early roots as a blues and boogie-woogie pianist evidenced by Lewie providing blues piano for albums by American blues singer-guitarists

Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup Arthur William "Big Boy" Crudup (August 24, 1905 – March 28, 1974) was an American Delta blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known, outside blues circles, for his songs "That's All Right" (1946), " My Baby Left Me" and "So Gl ...

(''Roebuck Man'' released on United Artists) and

Juke Boy Bonner Weldon H. Philip Bonner, better known as Juke Boy Bonner (March 22, 1932 – June 29, 1978) was an American blues singer, harmonica player, and guitarist. He was influenced by Lightnin' Hopkins, Jimmy Reed, and Slim Harpo. He accompanied himsel ...

(''Things Ain't Right'' on Liberty) in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Also he accepted Bob Hall's invitations to the boogie-woogie piano parties that Hall threw in the seventies before he moved away from London. English boogie-woogie players of the period would often drop in to spend time with him, comparing notes and discussing styles. At one such party, Ian Stewart duetted with Bob Hall along with Lewie himself, all three in emulation of the master American triumvirate popular in the 1940s: Albert Ammons,

Meade Lux Lewis Anderson Meade Lewis (September 4, 1905 – June 7, 1964), known as Meade Lux Lewis, was an American pianist and composer, remembered for his playing in the boogie-woogie style. His best-known work, "Honky Tonk Train Blues", has been recorded by ...

and Pete Johnson. Lewie's career continued to rise when he signed to

Stiff Records Stiff Records is a British independent record label formed in London, England, by Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera. Originally active from 1976 to 1986, the label was reactivated in 2007. Established at the outset of the punk rock boom, Stiff ...

in 1977. In 1980, following appearances on the Stiff package tours, he had a solo hit with the

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

number " You'll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties" co-written with fellow Brett Marvin member

Keef Trouble Keef Trouble (born Keith Trussell, 1949, Greenwich, London) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Career Trouble studied at The Slade School of Fine Art, London, from 1968 to 1972. He is a founding member of British country music, cou ...

, which he occasionally performed live with

Kirsty MacColl Kirsty Anna MacColl (10 October 1959 – 18 December 2000) was a British singer and songwriter, daughter of folk singer Ewan MacColl. She recorded several pop hits in the 1980s and 1990s, including " There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears ...

on backing vocals. The song made the British Top 20. His next single, "Big Shot – Momentarily", was a hit in Germany but not in the UK. By the end of 1980, he was back in the British charts with what became his biggest UK hit, " Stop the Cavalry". His subsequent 1981 release, "Louise (We Get It Right)" reached No. 2 in Australia, and achieved chart success in other world territories. His next two singles, "Vous et Moi" and "The Seed That Always Died", both charted in France. Both "Kitchen at Parties" and "Stop the Cavalry" had also been hits in Germany at the times of their original releases in 1980 and 1981 respectively, and remained popular in Germany. In 2010 and 2011, both tracks achieved prominent positions in an all-time German chart that appeared in a high ratings TV show. Lewie performed the two songs on two episodes of ''The Ultimate Chart Show'' which was broadcast 2010 and 2011. He also talked on the 'chat' part of the show with the aid of a German interpreter. During the 1990s, Lewie appeared with solo public performances on a 60-day UK tour as guest of

the Blues Band The Blues Band is a British blues band formed in 1979 by Paul Jones, former lead vocalist and harmonica player with Manfred Mann, and guitarist Tom McGuinness also of Manfred Mann and The Roosters. The band’s first line-up also included bass ...

, playing venues such as theatres and

civic centre A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, the ...

s, while occasionally playing one-off gigs such as that at the

Hackney Empire Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street, in the London Borough of Hackney. Originally designed by Frank Matcham it was built in 1901 as a music hall, and expanded in 2001. Described by ''The Guardian'' as ‘the most beautiful theatre in L ...

, London and taking part in occasional radio and television broadcasts. In December 2005, he appeared in

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

's '' Bring Back...The Christmas Number One'', along with

David Essex David Essex (born David Albert Cook; 23 July 1947) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. Since the 1970s, he has attained 19 Top 40 singles in the UK (including two number ones) and 16 Top 40 albums. Internationally, Essex had the most ...

and

Slade Slade are an English rock band formed in Wolverhampton in 1966. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The ''British Hit Singles ...

. They only fronted, but did not play on, the studio recording session of "I'm Going Home". It failed to secure a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

. It was written by ex-

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star Rob Davis, who also appeared on the show. In 2009, Lewie performed two songs at the London Ukulele Festival. The next year, Lewie joined

Captain Sensible Raymond Ian Burns (born 24 April 1954), known by the stage name Captain Sensible, is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. Captain Sensible co-founded the punk rock band The Damned (band), the Damned, originally playing bass before switc ...

and

the Glitter Band The Glitter Band are a glam rock band from England, who initially worked as Gary Glitter's backing band under that name from 1973, when they then began releasing records of their own. They were unofficially known as the Glittermen on the first f ...

on their British tour.

Discography

Albums

*''Alias Jona Lewie'' (Sonet, 1975) *''On the Other Hand There's a Fist'' (Stiff Records, 1978) (re-released in 1980 with a different track listing including the 1980 songs "You'll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties" and " Big Shot... Momentarily") *''Gatecrasher'' (re-release of 1975 album ''Alias Jona Lewie'', Sonet, 1980) *''Heart Skips Beat'' (Stiff Records, 1982) *''Optimistic'' (New Rose Records, 1993)

Singles

References

External links

*
Official site
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewie, Jona 1947 births Living people English male singer-songwriters English new wave musicians English record producers English songwriters English pianists Musicians from Southampton Ivor Novello Award winners Stiff Records artists British male pianists